An Odd Gift
by SuffocateDreams
Summary: War has ended; Aang and his friends are slowly rebuilding the World. One day, something rather odd happens to the young Avatar... looks like the spirits have given him an unexpected gift! (Kataang-centered.)
1. The Prologue

_Hello! This isn't the first time I've done fanfiction, but it is the first time I'm submitting here._

_It's been years since I ever wrote anything, and I hope to really just practice and start again._

_I'm currently going to an International School (my first language isn't English), so I want to see my progress of writing. I could do it with homework or simple essays... but I figured that writing stuff that actually interests me would be more exciting._

_So! Excuse my English, first of all. As I said, my mother-language isn't English, and I'm still learning. I tend to make silly mistakes that I notice much later on, if at all. Again, because I haven't written stories in English for years, I'm a bit rusty._

_Apologies aside, here's my first story here. I thought about it for quite a while in my head and I really wanted to get it written somewhere._

_I hope my readers enjoy the stories I will be uploading here. Critique is always welcome! Even if you don't have much to say, I love getting reviews! They give me motivation and inspiration, so don't be shy to give them!~_

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><p><em><strong>Short summary;<strong>_

_This takes place after Aang's fight with Ozai. War has ended; Aang and his friends are slowly rebuilding the World. One day, something rather odd happens to the young Avatar... looks like the spirits have given him an unexpected gift!~_

_And thus, a series of humorous and adorable events start happening._

_[Pairings; all canon ones. Kataang, Maiko, Sukka,... There may and may not be some OOC moments here and there. Kataang-centered.]_

_[Rating; K - T. Kissies and huggies, be warned!~]_

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><p>Sun was setting on the horizons of the city of Ba Sing Se. The sky was warm orange with a hint of darker blue, signaling the coming of night soon. A warm breeze blew over the land.<p>

A land once torn with war and fear, now filled with peace and happiness. Also, progress and development. Even though the barbaric Fire Lord and his insane daughter were defeated and put behind bars by the Avatar, the World still needed a lot of time to recover. The political and social events were only heating up now that there weren't Fire Nation troops patrolling the cities. It seems like the Avatar has got a lot to do after defeating the most evil man who had yet stepped on this land.

Oh, the Avatar, Aang. So young and innocent, and yet full of bravery, experience, compassion and justice. His adventures with his friends, and his self-discovery, has shaped him into a powerful Avatar. A protector. A savior. A... lover.

It seems that the events of Ember Island was just yesterday.

_About a week and a half ago..._

_Aang was flying in the Fire Nation's Airship along with his friends, Sokka, Toph and Suki. They took the Fire Lord with his limp body as a "prisoner". Toph had molded rocks around his body to keep him from trying to escape or move at all. _

_They were heading towards where they promised to meet Zuko and Katara. The four could only hope that the fight with Azula ended for their good. _

_The tired Avatar gave out a long sigh. He had bruises and burns across his body, with nothing covering them. The pain was rather minor, but it still irritated his exhausted soul. _

"_Hey, Aang," Sokka said, steering the airship. The Avatar perked his head up. _

"_You look like you need a rest." he finished. He had turned his face towards his friend. A worried smile appeared on the warrior. _

_It wasn't really like him, to be honest. But it was very sincere of him to feel worried, still. _

_Aang yawned, "Ah, yeah. I guess I should take a nap." he stood up and headed for the door. _

"_Tell me when you need something." They all nodded and watched him leave the room._

_He stumbled a bit around the hall of the ship. His mind only on getting to somewhere where he could lie down and rest. It's been a long day, a long week… a long year, now that he thinks about it. _

'_It all seems to be so long ago when Katara and Sokka freed me from the iceberg… '_

_Katara. Ahh. Whatever happened that night, Aang doesn't want to remember. He knew he was being immature and irrational. The last time they spoke, they were arguing. It might as well been the last time they ever saw eachother._

'_I pray to spirits she's safe. I can't fathom the thought of her being hurt.'_

_He made it to a small room with a bed and a cupboard. The eerie red atmosphere and Fire Nation symbols scattered across the room bothered him to no end, but he paid no attention to that. All he wanted was to rest._

_The scarlet bed (that seems to be for injured soldiers) was more than inviting right now. The young Avatar dropped on the bed, took a deep breath and was already falling asleep. _

_Moments passed… Minutes… Maybe even an hour…_

_Time went by so fast, but he seemed to be caught in it. He didn't dream. He didn't even think much. He sighed again, feeling the warm feeling of sleep take over him, when suddenly-_

"_WHAM!" the airship shook and landed on something hard._

_Immediately Aang jumped up, ready for a fight, an escape, anything. He didn't plan on sleeping through a possible ambush or an attack. _

_He rushed out the door, his head dizzy from the lack of rest and from disturbing his sleep._

_Stumbling across the hall again, he made it to the steering room, only to find no one there._

"_Sokka? T-Toph? S...Suki?" he tried his hardest to get their names out and call for them. His vision got blurry and he felt faint. He simply needed to rest, his body demanded for it._

_After a long silence, caused from the Avatar simply being too tired and caught in trance from his exhaustion, footsteps were heard coming into the ship._

_They came closer and closer and Aang had bearly managed to turn around, when…_

"_Aang?" a shaky voice came from the door._

_His vision still fuzzy, his stance still on the edge of falling, he made out only the figure infront of him._

"_Aang!" the voice was louder. It sounded so familiar…_

_The figure came very close in a matter of seconds, gripping a strong hold on the Avatar. Hugging him tight, as if it was the end of all time for them._

_Aang couldn't respond very fast, but he recognised the figure now, and the quiet sobs coming from her were heartbreaking._

"_You're… safe. You're… alive! Thank the s-spirits! Ohh, Aang!" _

"_Hey, Katara…" Aang said with a quiet tone. He was filled with joy that the waterbender was well and breathing. He tried to return the hug, and to comfort the weeping girl, but his legs felt weak and he fell on his bottom. _

_Katara didn't let go of him. She got down on her knees, holding the boy tightly in her embrace. _

_Words couldn't explain her happiness and relief. _

_He was with her. Nothing could ever break her arms from holding him. Tears of pure happiness ran down her dark cheeks._

_Moments passed. The rest of the gang had gathered into the room, quietly watching the two share a touching moment of reunion. _

_Aang finally got his arms around Katara, but just lightly. He buried his face in her neck, trying his best now to support her and hold her. _

"_I'm glad… you're… safe and alive, too. It's gr...great to see you, a-...again." his words faded, barely hearable for anyone in the room. But Katara heard them clearer than anything. _

_Couple more moments passed. This quiet but peaceful bliss…_

_Before anyone even knew it, Aang let his arms fall to the ground and his eyes completely shut. _

"_H-Huh?" Katara moved a bit back, still holding onto him._

"_He fell asleep. Looks this day got the best of our Twinkle Toes." Toph explained. _

"_O-Oh, right…" The young waterbender noticed. "I'll get him to bed."_

_She held him on her side, carefully taking him across the room to the crimson bedroom. _

"_Wait… where's Ozai?" she almost forgot to ask. She didn't seem to care about anything but Aang's wellbeing right now._

"_Aang defeated him. I'm not exactly sure what he… did. " Suki said._

_Katara gave a confused look to the trio._

"_He said something about taking the Loser Lord's bending away. It seems permanent." Toph said, leaning against the wall._

"_What? How?" Katara asked, looking at her sleeping companion._

"_Trust me, we don't know either. It seems to be some kind of spirit mumbo-jumbo." Sokka said, shrugging. _

_The waterbender didn't feel like thinking of an explanation. She was sure that Aang will explain later, in better detail. _

_She continued to escort the unconscious Avatar to his bed._

"_Set course to...!U-Uhh..." Sokka exclaimed happily, forgetting what he was going to say._

"_Um, where exactly were we supposed to meet up?" he asked, feeling silly, looking around the room for anyone to help him out._

"_Let me steer. We'll announce the fall of the Fire Lord to the public, first." Zuko gave a small smile, before taking over control of the airship._

_/_

_Katara carefully put Aang on the bed, shifting him so that he'd be comfortable, putting a blanket over him, sitting down next to him._

_His slow breaths made her feel relaxed. His tired face seemed so calm. _

'_Let no Fire Lord disturb your sleep no more. It's all over. We did it. You did it. You saved us all.'_

_She didn't notice a smile coming up to her face. Her hands firmly hold onto Aang's, giving her the comfort she needed._

'_You came back to me. Alive.' she thought to herself. She felt so proud and happy for her powerful friend. _

_Suddenly, she felt utterly sad and guilty._

'_The last time we spoke was… horrifying. **I** was so… horrible. How could I do this to you, Aang? Have I got no heart at all?' she asked herself._

'_I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for hurting you and for making you wait and feel rejected.' tears formed her eyes._

'_I'm sorry for hiding my own feelings from you. Especially when you've confessed to me… I was stupid. But… I couldn't let us be together. Not when Ozai was still running rampant. I couldn't let us waste time worrying for eachother when you're facing the most deadliest man in the World…'_

_Katara knew that she was lying to herself. Of course they still thought and worried about eachother. And she did worry a whole lot. She knew he did, too._

_Love isn't something you can control._

'_I hope you forgive me, Aang. You came back to me physically… can you come back to me with your heart, too? I can't wait anymore… I want to be with you…'_

_Before she could even think everything through clearly, she placed her lips on Aang's, softly. Her heart raced, her cheeks flushed pink, but she was happy. _

"_I'll make everything up to you, Aang." she said quietly, her gaze never leaving him._

"_I love you." _

_/_

_A few days later, Aang and his friends had met up with everyone else. War was offically declared over, new Fire Lord announced the plans for a peaceful and happy world alongside the Avatar. Things seemed to be going uphill._

_The Gang spent the next few days at Iroh's Tea Shop. They all went to their respective meetings and had to do a lot of plans for the future and help out civilians, but they were relaxing during sunset. _

_Aang had slept well (like everyone else), and the meetings weren't that bad, really. Everyone paid respect to his personal needs and let him rest._

_Zuko was as busy as ever. Now that he's the Fire Lord, he had quite a lot to do. A whole nation needed to be united and relationships with others had to be fixed. The price for the war was also quite bothersome, but along with his friends and the council, Zuko strived for the better future. _

_Sokka spent most of his time with Hakoda and the Water Tribes, arranging plans and meetings to help re-build the world. _

_Suki and Toph started training classes for earthbenders and non-benders. The two had developed a strong friendship and trust. _

_Mai helped Zuko around, always staying by his side, making sure he wouldn't forget to smile and kiss her every day. Ty Lee had joined the Kyoshi Warriors and helped Suki around with training new recruits._

_Katara was helping around Ba Sing Se. Going around assisting families, the poor and the sick and joining council-meetings with Aang. _

_After talking things straight with the young Avatar, they had forgiven eachother and confessed their true feelings (again), this time it ending with them kissing on the balcony._

Present day…

Aang was just returning from a meeting with the council. The subject was about re-building villages that were either burned down or greatly affected by the Fire Nation Troops.

It sure was a bit boring, but to Aang, it was a responsibility. He knew he'd have to continue serving the world(s) as the Avatar, helping people and restoring peace and bringing justice.

Aang walked out of the room. The council and him had agreed to let him go early today. Yesterday and the day before he spend flying around the Earth Kingdom in search for villages in need.

He closed the door politely, then turned around and started walking towards the main entrance. It was a rather big hall.

Out of the blue, Momo flew onto his face. The young boy chuckled and played around with the lemur.

"Hey, Momo! Wanna get some snacks before heading home?" he asked his pet.

"Brrrchk!" the animal replied with eyes shining. Of course he did.

Aang smiled and continued walking down the hall with his lemur on his shoulder.

A few minutes later, one of the councilmen also left the room. He bowed and closed the door, turning around and starting to walk.

"Huh?" he looked at the ground. "What's this?"

The man picked up a white feather, analyzing it carefully.

"Hmm… Where could've this come from? I haven't seen any birds flying around here…" he said to himself.

He looked closer at the feather, "It's nothing like I've seen before… it seems so… otherwordly."

"Meh." he threw it away, continuing his walk. "The guard probably forgot to close the windows or something."

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><p><em>Allright, this is the end of<strong> Chapter 1<strong>! It's more of a prologue / set-up, I know heh._

_Let me know what you think so far, and if I should fix something (related to my literal skills)._

_Please give a review, if possible. Again, I'd love to hear others' opinions on my work! _

_Thank you for reading!~_


	2. Chapter 1

_The story continues! I'm not sure how long I'll be making this, though._

_Probably a Chapter or two, not more? Hm._

_Thank you for those who +followed! (And for the review I got.)_

_And without further ado…_

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><p>Aang was making his way down one of Ba Sing Se's markets. It had a various selection of foods, materials and items. There never seemed to be a shortage. There also never seemed to be quiet at the market; crowded and noisy all day long. People all around the world came here to trade, sell or buy.<p>

Momo chirped quietly and gawked around the market. The smells of fresh food was simply unresistable.

"So, what nuts should we get? The good old ones or should we try something new?" Aang asked his lemur friend, who simply chirped at the young boy.

They walked pass an old woman with a stand, featuring nuts of all sorts. Momo gave out a small screech and pointed towards the goods.

"Allright, allright," He chuckled, moving towards the woman.

"A-Avatar! Welcome to my humble stand. What can I get for you, your greatness?" the woman bowed and smiled.

"Heh, no need for any 'greatness's." Aang smiled, "My little friend here," he patted Momo, "has a very good appetite. Could you suggest something for us?"

"Oh, certainly!" the woman smiled back, searching around her available goods to find something impressive for the young Avatar.

"These nuts are from the beautiful Western meadows of the Earth Kingdom! They have a hint of salt in their taste." she pointed out the light-brown nuts on her right.

Aang analyzed them, and gave one for Momo to sniff.

"What do you think, buddy? Feel like eating something with a stronger taste?" he asked.

Momo sniffed the nut a bit, shaking it next to his ears, then shook his head.

"Ahh, I guess he wants something more…" Aang tried to think of the word.

"Subtle? Well, these nuts are from the higher mountains of the Earth Kingdom. They don't have much of a strong taste, but they store water," the woman pointed at the darker brown nuts on her left. "each bite releases a bit of fresh water. It's a rather unique kind of meal."

Aang picked one up and gave it to Momo to examine. The lemur was very intrigued by the smell already, starting to munch without hesitation.

The Avatar and the merchant shared a laugh.

"I guess we'll take these. One bag, please." Aang said, patting Momo on the head.

"T-They are a bit more expensive," the woman pointed out. "But for the Avatar, I'm willing to sell them for half the price!"

Aang shook his head and smiled, "No-no. I will still pay the original price." he insisted. He didn't want his title to make people think he should get treated like that.

The merchant wouldn't argue. "Very well. The price for one bag is 15 gold pieces."

The Avatar was taken back for a bit. Those are some expensive nuts.

"It's because you have to get them from the mountains, right?" he asked politely.

"Yes. I wish I could sell them for a cheaper price; not many people buy them." the woman said sadly.

Aang thought for a bit, looked at Momo's curious face, "I think we'll be buying more of them in the near future." he said smiling.

The woman's eyes filled with joy. "O-Oh, thank you! Avatar, sir! You're very kind."

The two shared another laugh. Aang gave the woman 15 gold pieces in exchange for those rare mountain nuts. Momo immediately trashed the bag and put a dozen in his mouth.

"Have a great afternoon, ma'am." Aang said, waving the merchant farewell.

"Thank you, Avatar! Have a good one, as well!" the woman waved happily.

A few moments after Aang had disappeared from sight, the woman was working around her stand. Suddenly, something bright and fuzzy caught her eye.

"Wha-..." she could barely get the word out of her mouth. She squinted her eyes and headed for one of the boxes that were on display. It had a small, white feather on it, getting blown away by the wind.

The woman stretched out to see infront of her stand, which had quite a few white feathers rolling around.

"Strange." the old merchant said to herself. "I didn't notice any feathers on that lemur…"

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><p>Aang had made his way to Iroh's Tea Shop's entrance. The doors were closed, for it was late and the customers had gone home.<p>

He knocked on the door, scratching Momo's head as the lemur munched on some of the nuts. He seemed to be obsessed with the taste.

The door was opened. A sneaky head peeked out of it. Sokka.

"Oh, hey Aang." the young warrior smiled and let his friend in. They hugged.

"Hey, Sokka." Aang greeted back, walking in whilst Sokka closed the door behind him.

"Aren't you home a bit early? I thought you said you won't arrive until midnight or so." Sokka asked.

"The council allowed me to go home. I had been working pretty hard for the past two days. They said I deserved a rest, so they also gave me the next few days off." he said, smiling.

"Oh, I see." the Water Tribe boy locked the door and walked with the Avatar into the living room.

"Nuts?" Aang asked, offering a small bag of his purchased goods to him. Sokka noticed Momo crunching on some quite rapidly, driving his appetite away.

"I think I'll pass this time."

They made it to the main room. It was awfully empty and quiet, however.

"Where is everybody?" Aang asked, looking around.

"Katara and Suki went shopping. They were planning on making some huge meal for when you come ba-..." Sokka stopped. "Oh, dang it. I wasn't supposed to tell you."

Momo took flight, grabbing the bag with his feet and landing on the couch, still enjoying the deliciousness.

Aang chuckled, "It's allright. I won't tell them you told me." They smiled at eachother.

The Avatar was very happy to hear that his friends wanted to do something special for his return. He wondered what the girls would possibly come up with, for their cooking was always something he loved.

"Zuko's been busy with meetings like you, and Toph, um…" Sokka added. "I think Toph's kicking some boulders around somewhere. I haven't seen her that much lately."

Aang walked around the room, looking at some of the paintings that his trusty friend had put up. They were quite… amateur, to say the least. He chuckled when he noticed how Appa was drawn, again.

"So, what are you going to do on your days off?" Sokka asked, noticing how Aang was laughing at his paintings that he worked hours on.

"Um, I guess I'll just keep training and meditating." he said, looking at his friend.

"Ahh," Sokka shook his head a bit. "Always with the Avatar stuff. Don't you want to do something else for a while, especially when you don't have to go to boring meetings?"

"Well, what else can I really do?" Aang asked, scratching his bald head.

"For starters, ask my sister out more. You guys have only been to ONE date!" Sokka pointed out.

Aang blushed and laughed lightly, "You're right. I've been so caught up with my Avatar duties…" he didn't really want to tell Sokka about the cuddling and kissing they do whenever he and Katara are alone. Oh the _oogies _Sokka would get if he knew.

"I'm just saying, loverboy." Sokka said. "Atleast bring her along when you go away for days. She's been a bit sad because you keep flying off all the time."

That's true. Aang's been busy with councils and all sorts of meetings and plans that he hasn't had much time for his girlfriend. He comes home late and shares an hour or so with her, but that's pretty much it.

He felt really bad for treating her like that.

'_Maybe I should start asking for more days off…'_

"Ahh," Aang sighed, feeling his back hurt all of a sudden.

"I'll ask her out tomorrow. Thank you for reminding me, Sokka." he smiled at him. "_I'll make sure to spend lots of time with her now._"

Sokka flinched, "H-Hey! Not _too _much time, okay? _Oogies_!" the warrior exclaimed in disgust.

Aang chuckled, then arched back all of a sudden.

"Ow!" the Avatar supported his back with his hand.

"You okay?" Sokka asked with a serious tone. He reached for his younger friend.

"I'm fine. My back just hurts for no reason." he explained.

"Hmm, I think the reason is that you've been working too hard. You should go to bed and get some rest." Sokka said, putting his hand on Aang's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll do that." The Avatar replied, giving a small smile.

He started making way towards his bedroom, which was down the hall, at the very back. A shock of pain came again, making him wince, but he kept going.

"Good night, Sokka." Aang waved across the hall, entering his room and closing the door.

"Take it easy, champ." Sokka said, watching his friend disappear into his respective room. Sokka had made sure that his room was between Aang and Katara's. Just so that one of them won't try sneaking into the other's room without his notice.

"Now, off to make more art!" he said to himself, rushing to his table that was filled with paintings.

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><p>Aang headed for his bed, still a bit weary from the sudden jolts of pain from his back.<p>

'_I guess I really have been overworking. I should dedicate tomorrow to spending time with Katara, and just relax. Too much work can lead to stress and … yeah.'_

He thought to himself, trying to find balance in his duties and free-time. He blushed at the thought of him going on another date with Katara.

'_I hope she's not too upset the way I've treated her… I have to show her I truly love her.' _

Aang took off his clothes and placed them on a chair next to his bed. He made sure to fold them correctly; after all, those were the clothes he went to meetings with.

"Augh!" he winced again, the pain from his back only getting worse by the minute.

The young Avatar sighed, sitting on his bed. After another annoying jolt of pain, he shifted the bedcovers and made his way under them. A few long breaths, and he was sleeping like a koala-bear during winter.

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><p>Sokka had spent about an hour alone, drawing endless amount of paintings. He seemed so into it, his brush making swift and quick turns, his face full of deep thinking and pride.<p>

"WHAM!" The door of the teashop flew open violently, obviously caused by someone earthbending. Dust and small rocks flew around the place.

Sokka was shocked by the sudden explosion, flinging his brush across one of his paintings, ruining it.

"Toph, do you even _know _the definition of 'knocking'?" a female voice asked, coughing from the dust.

"Well excuuuuse me, Sugar Queen." a younger girl said, mockingly. "If you two hadn't spent more hours on the market, I wouldn't have felt like destroying something."

Sokka ran to the entrance, shocked and angry. Once he was there, he was even more shocked and angry. The door was indeed destroyed.

"_Tooooph_!" he exclaimed, gripping onto his head.

"Oh, Sokka, we'll get it fixed. It's not the first time this has happened, anyway." Suki said, giggling.

Katara and she were carrying large baskets filled with food (well, everything that was not meat), making their way to the kitchen. Toph had an annoyed and dusty face on her. Clearly she was more than done with the two older girls wasting extra hours shopping while she had to tag along.

"THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM." Sokka shouted, flailing his arms around.

He pulled out his most recent painting, "Now my beautiful and hard work has been ruined!"

The girls couldn't help but to laugh. As always, the characters on his 'paintings' were too humorous to even look at anymore, and the big fat line of black paint across it only added more hilarity.

Momo noticed the girls' presence and flew off the couch, greeting them, jumping on each of them and licking their faces.

The girls chuckled, "Hey there, Momo." Katara patted the lemur.

"So excited from seeing us, aren't you?" Suki cooed, scratching his head.

"He smells like," Toph said. "nuts?"

Katara looked at Sokka, "I thought you said you were staying here tonight? Why did you go to the market instead of just telling us to get Momo some snacks?"

Sokka had been too busy crying over his 'masterpiece'. He wiped away his tears and stood up.

"Oh, uhm…" he looked around suspiciously, then got closer to the girls and whispered, "Aang came back home."

The three froze. They thought their little surprise for the young Avatar was now ruined.

"Why? Wasn't he-" Katara asked but got cut off.

"Shhhhh! He's _sleeping_!" Sokka whispered a bit louder, pointing at the hall.

"He said that the council allowed him to relax for a few days. He was exhausted." he added.

"Awh, poor Aang. I hope he's allright." Suki said, starting to quietly put the food in her basket into the cupboards. "He must've been working really hard."

Toph yawned and laid down on the couch, starting to munch on the nuts that were supposedly Momo's.

"You didn't tell him anything about our surprise, did you?" Katara asked sternly.

"N-No! No, not at all!" Sokka said, shaking his head rapidly. He hoped he was convincing enough.

His sibling took his word and helped Suki unpack.

"Looks like we'll have to get up earlier so that we could actually surprise him." Katara pointed out.

"But he's a morning-person. Who knows how early _he_ will wake up?" Sokka asked.

"He's probably going to sleep longer tonight. Atleast, I hope." she answered.

Sokka knew how badly Katara wanted to surprise Aang after his return from two days of seperation. He really wishes he hadn't told Aang unintentionally about their little plan.

He put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, I'll help out. Two cooks are better than one, right?" he assured her, smiling.

'_I think I'd do better without Sokka, honestly. A lot less accidents, but… I can't say no.'_ Katara thought before smiling back at her brother.

"I'll help out too. I'm used to waking up early." Suki said, finishing unpacking the food.

"Thank you," Katara said. She felt a bit sad for not being at home when Aang arrived, but it was for the best. If he had arrived just now, the surprise might've been completely ruined.

Toph gave out a loud burp, finishing the last of the nuts with Momo.

"You're helping out too, Toph." Sokka ordered.

"Ugh!" the young earthbender whined. "...fine."

* * *

><p>After everyone had finished relaxing in the main room and Toph had earthbended a large stone wall as the entrance door, Sokka announced;<p>

"Allright everyone! Tomorrow, Aang shall taste the greatest salad-"

"It's a meal, Sokka." Katara interrupted.

"...non-meat meal," he continued, earning a sigh from his sister. "that he has ever tasted! We have all the ingredients and a fresh, oblivious Avatar, ready to be served! Let's do this!"

Suki gave a small applause and a kiss on the cheek, "Very leader-like, hun."

'_I don't see why Sokka's making such a big deal out of it. He's not even doing anything. He didn't even go to the market-... Ugh, nevermind.' _Katara thought to herself.

She wanted to go and see the young Avatar, but knew that she might wake him up. He's been away for two days and working hard, so she won't disturb his sleep.

But spirits, how she wanted to see his face again. To have him smile at her and hold her, perhaps even share a kiss with her again. Ever since War's ended, Aang's been busy with meetings and all sorts of plans and orders with the council, that they only managed to go on one date.

'_Sure, it was amazing but… If there hadn't been so many fangirls following him around, it would've been much better.' _She remembered the day, trying not to focus too much on the negative parts.

Her face turned light pink, as she remembered holding hands and staring at the beautiful night sky with Aang. How it made her heart flutter.

'_Maybe now that he has a couple of free days, it's my chance to ask him.'_

"Welp," Toph broke the short silence, standing up and heading towards her room. "I'm going to bed. Let me know whenever Twinkle Toes is supposed to wake up." They knew Toph can't actually help out with cooking. So she'll just join them when they wake Aang up.

"G'night." she said, yawning. "Night, Toph." they said, soon going to their bedrooms aswell.

The blind earthbender's room was the one opposite to Aang's; at the very end of the hallway. She stumbled sleepily to her room, when suddenly, she felt something soft under her foot.

"Hmmm…" she picked it up. "A feather?" she touched it, to see the figure of it. It was extremely soft and light.

"Ugh," she stood up and crushed the feather into dust. "Sokka has got to stop eating so much pigchicken." continuing her way to her room.

* * *

><p>Sun was rising on Ba Sing Se city. Warm morning breeze flew over the land, the smell of arriving fall.<p>

As the first ray of sunlight hit Iroh's Teashop, the young Avatar started to wake up. Even for a morning person, he was up very early.

The young boy felt his bed being a lot warmer than usual. He presumed it was because he was away for so long, forgetting the sensation. But really, it felt a lot warmer and softer than what he remembers.

He moved his hand around the bed, feeling something really soft and tender brush over his fingers. Now that's something he didn't remember.

Aang grunted, as he tried to open his eyes.

His vision was blurry but he noticed the whiteness of everything.

The pain in his back was gone, and instead he felt something big and warm embrace him from his back. All over his sides and spine.

He grunted a bit more, opening his eyes again, but his vision was still blurry.

'_So… warm… and fluffy...wait...'_ he said to himself in his mind.

The boy noticed his blanket was on the floor, as if it was tossed there without care.

'_Wait, then… how do I feel so warm and… is someone… cuddling me? No...' _his head was dizzy.

Suddenly he imagined Katara in his bed, having had tossed his blanket aside and replaced it with herself, hugging him.

His cheeks turned bright red, making his heart race. That helped him wake up better.

Aang tried to stretch his shoulders, but felt whatever was behind him move along with them. He froze. That was certainly not another blanket or a pillow, or even another person.

He felt as if _he _was… bigger. It was a very odd feeling, so he tried to experiment more while he was still semi-asleep.

Aang breathed in slowly, then pulled himself together with all of his muscles.

Giant white wings appeared infront of his face, covering him with soft feathers. He froze again.

A few tries of slowly breathing in and out, he noticed the wings corresponded to his movements.

After a few moments, he felt like he was completely awake. His head felt a bit dizzy, but he saw clearly what around him.

The young Avatar tried to sit up, noticing how the giant wings expanded and held onto his back… as if they were…

'_Wait, wait… No, this can't be… I must be dreaming!' _Aang tried to convince himself, but ended up panicking, as the wings would start to respond to his back-muscles more and more, almost completely under Aang's control.

'_What is going on?! I-I have… ' _he stood up, crouching, looking behind him. Yep, those wings were totally glued to his back. He observed them a bit more, but extremely confused and frightened.

Feathers. Feathers everywhere scattered around his room.

'_I have… wings?!'_

* * *

><p>"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"<p>

Everyone in the house shot up, all recognising the agonizing scream of the young Avatar.

'_Damn it, he woke up before we did.' _Sokka told himself, running out of his room in his underwear.

Aang's door flew open. All of the feathers in the room floated around. It was like an entire flock of pigchicken had ravaged his bedroom.

Way too many questions were being asked in their minds.

The window had been destroyed, and Aang seemed to have gone out of it. The four friends stormed outside to look for the young boy.

"Aang!" Katara called him once she noticed his figure out on the yard.

He was thrashing around, flopping his giant white wings and running around, screaming and shouting, obviously in panic and fear.

This was too much for poor Sokka, "H-He… has… w-w-w-wings!" was all he could say before passing out.

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><p><em>That's the end of this chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!<em>

_Please leave a review to let me know what you think. ;v; Thank you for reading!~_


	3. Chapter 2

_Here's Chapter 2! Enjoy!_

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><p>The young Avatar flopped around the yard with his newly "obtained" wings, yelling in absolute panic and confusion.<p>

The wings were white, clean and big- when completely stretched out, they were bigger than Aang himself. Of course, it was hard to measure from far away, especially when he wouldn't stop moving.

As the boy kept thrashing about, running and falling, still yelping, his friends snapped out of their trance. Sokka got up, his eyes wide in shock and awe.

"Aang!" Katara called out for him, trying to reach for the sprinting boyfriend.

"What is going on?!" he yelled in response, "Aaaa-!" he ran into a tree and fell down on his back, wings spread apart on the ground. "Ooof!"

The four friends ran to him, staring at his new… "appearance".

Katara was fascinated but terrified of the change of Aang's anatomy, but didn't just sit and gawk at him.

"You okay?" she asked, kneeling down and supporting him. She tried to ignore the floating feathers.

"Y-Yeah," Aang sat up, his wings folding together. "I don't know what happened. W-Why I have these-" he looked at his new limbs. "all of a sudden." he looked up to his friends for any response, now that he had calmed down.

Sokka's face was still frozen; his mouth and eyes wide open, not making a single sound.

Katara put her arms around Aang, hugging him; trying to give him comfort. Also because they hadn't seen eachother for a couple of days. She gave a quick kiss on his cheek, making him blush.

"Maybe it's a disease?" Toph offered an explanation. "Like an epidemic or something?"

"You're not helping, Toph." Katara said sternly after seeing Aang's frightened reaction.

"Hey, just a guess." she shrugged.

"Well, it's very likely got to do with spirits," Suki eyed the Avatar. She asked for permission to touch his wings, which Aang had no problem with. "they look very un-natural, as in, they don't quite look like the wings animals have."

The Kyoshi warrior made a fair point. The feathers seemed very ominous and other-wordly. Sure, you could compare them to most bird-like wings; they were covered in silky feathers, but something about them were out of place, and not because they were a part of Aang now.

Toph sat down next to Aang and touched his wings, without his permission, though, "You're right. No animal here has these kind of wings." she plucked a feather out, making Aang wince. "Yep, totally spirit-stuff."

Aang looked at Katara with a concerned look. He was still in shock and couldn't really find a reason for all of this. The young waterbender felt helpless, she was just as confused as Aang was.

"Well, they look like they could be of good use." she gave him a comforting smile, "You can get to places much faster now. Plus, you look very elegant with them."

Aang blushed lightly, feeling a bit better.

"I don't know," Toph chewed on the plucked feather. "they aren't exactly what people have these days. He's going to look like a freak, to be honest."

Katara frowned, "Toph, you can't exactly 'see' him like we do. He looks-..." she couldn't think of a nice way of saying 'different'. The Avatar noticed her struggle.

Aang placed his hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, Katara. You don't have to find a way to make me feel better." he stood up.

The Avatar folded his wings together, and now they didn't seem as big, but very noticeable, still. He looked at his new limbs, feeling every muscle in them as he fluttered them.

"I know I look… strange." he said, his eyes at his friends, who all still looked a bit scared and confused. "But I don't feel any different. It's certainly not some kind of an illness or a disease. I'm still the old Aang"

He stared down, thinking.

"Before I do anything, I should ask Roku. If they are somehow related to spirits, he should know the reason behind them." he sighed, releasing the negative energy from his breath.

"I-I'll go...meditate. Sorry for waking you guys up." he perked his head up and started walking back to his room.

The four watched him leave, not being able to keep their eyes from him.

Aang felt them stare. He picked up the pace but lost his balance and stumbled.

"Ooof!" he fell flat on his stomach. Katara gasped and wanted to go help him, but he stood up before she could start moving. "I'm okay!" he exclaimed and walked it off.

"We should, um…" Suki broke the silence. "...leave it to Aang, to figure out, the wings, I mean, heh…". It was still hard to believe what just happened. Nothing like that has happened before, and this seemed very out of place for anyone to grasp.

"Yeah, this is probably some weird spirit jumbo," Toph said, being the least taken back from all of this. Maybe it was because she didn't quite 'see' the deal. She played around with some of the floating feathers.

Katara still felt worried for Aang, "I just hope it's nothing too serious."

Aang deserves a good rest, and she really wanted to spend time with him. Not when he's got more issues to deal with and they might cause him more stress. She also really hoped to go on another date with him, but she knew she shouldn't ask before the whole wings-thing is sorted out.

"Y'know," Toph coughed. "If we hurry, we might still do that surprise-meal-thing you guys wanted to do while he's meditating." she pointed out.

Suki and Katara looked at eachother and remembered their initial plan for this morning. Like lightning, they grabbed the unwilling (and regretful) earthbender and ran for the house.

Suki stopped halfway, "Honey, come on! You have to help, too!" she told Sokka, who had been frozen this whole time.

"H-H-He has wings!" he shouted, then turned around and ran with Suki to the kitchen. "Wings! Aang has w-wings!?". It seemed like he wasn't going to recover any time soon.

* * *

><p>Aang had cleaned and fixed his feather-filled room. He put on his daily clothes, which looked almost exactly like the ones he had that got burned during the fight with Ozai.<p>

He took a small pillow and placed it on the ground, sitting on it in a meditative pose, breathing very slowly, so he could relax. He noticed his wings were a bit annoying when they were just lazily on the ground, hanging from his back, so he tightened his muscles and made them folded. Aang noticed that they were rather light for their size, not like it bothered him.

He closed his eyes continued breathing slowly, concentrating on contacting Roku.

A few moments later, he heard a familiar voice, "Aang, you have called for me." The man's body or image was nowhere to be found. The airbender didn't mind that, as long as he could hear him.

"Avatar Roku, this morning I woke up with…" he paused for a second. "...wings."

"I was wondering if you knew the reason why. Does it have something to do with the spirit world?" he added quickly.

"Ah, of course. I didn't want to disturb you in your sleep, I would've told you earlier." Roku said calmly.

"Aang, you defeated the Fire Lord and brought peace to this world, along with the spirit world. You ended the hundred-year war that had torn the nations apart." he said. Aang listened carefully.

"You showed passion, strength,intelligence and kindness," Roku added. "you mastered the elements in such a short period of time, and you're so young. You also found out a way to defeat the Fire Lord without killing him."

Aang waited patiently.

"After many battles and obstacles you faced, you managed to keep balance in yourself and fulfill your duty, even though you still have many duties ahead."

"Thank you. I couldn't have done it without my friends." Aang smiled, remembering all of the adventures.

"The Spirits were very pleased by your success," Roku chuckled. "thrilled, infact. So, they decided to give you something in return for saving the worlds. A gift, as they said."

Aang raised his eyebrow. He understood what he said, of course, but was still a bit confused.

"So they gave me these? How come?" Aang asked.

"They presumed you'd love wings," Roku answered. "they are great for flying, spiritual connection and perhaps even special appeal for the young Avatar."

Aang smiled. Now that he thinks about it, wings were amazing to have. He imagined flying carelessly in the sky, and they certainly added heavenly features to his appearance.

"Thank you, Avatar Roku. I accept this gift. Please send the spirits my thanks." he said.

"Until we meet again, Aang." Roku said before disconnecting with the boy's mind.

Aang opened his eyes and breathed out happily. He stretched his wing muscles, analysing the white feathers and features.

'_This isn't so bad, at all! Heh, not bad at all.'_ he thought to himself, a smile coming to his face. _'Ah, I should tell others, now.'_

* * *

><p>Aang went out of his room and started making his way down the hall. He stretched and yawned, feeling his wings lift up and down with his back. It felt very odd and new, but Aang figured that he'd get used to it sooner than he realizes.<p>

'_Ah, dang it… I should ask Katara out today. I was supposed to do it this morning...' _Aang thought to himself, feeling a bit embarrassed of his performance earlier.

'_I hope she hasn't got much planned for today…' _he made it to the main room. He glanced around to notice any of his friends, but they were nowhere to be found. He figured they went back to bed. After all, it was rather early.

"A-Aang! Hey!" the boy heard a voice from behind. Sokka had suddenly appeared from the kitchen, looking a bit nervous.

"Oh, good morning, Sokka," Aang greeted happily. "Are the others up, too?"

"Erm…" the Water Tribe boy was lost for words, scratching the back of his head. "Well, um…"

Aang looked at his friend with confusion, "What's wrong"

"You know what you need?" the warrior shot up. "A morning walk! Let's go!" he pushed Aang towards the main entrance, trying not to squish his wings too hard.

"Oh, okay?" Aang shrugged it off. He has seen Sokka acting weirder before, and perhaps the whole wings-thing just got to his head and he couldn't sleep.

"Ugh, finally!" Toph came out from her hiding place, the back of the couch. She slumped onto one of the chairs and continued napping.

"Looks like she's not going to bother with helping." Suki said, pointing her head out of the kitchen. "I guess it's just the two of us."

Katara sighed. She was afraid that Aang would appear sooner than they had hoped, so they had to get Sokka to distract him to buy them some time. Toph couldn't really help, anyway.

"We should hurry. They can be back any minute." she said, continuing where she was at with the meal.

* * *

><p>The two boys made their way down a quiet street, walking side by side.<p>

"So," Sokka tried to break the silence, and to make the walk as long as possible. "...what did you, uhh… find out about the wings?" he stared at the back of Aang, his graceful-looking features swinging from side to side.

"Well, Roku said that it was a gift from the spirits," he noticed his friend raise a confused eyebrow. Aang chuckled, giving Sokka a warm smile, "he said they were very happy with me defeating the Fire Lord and ending the war."

Sokka's face didn't change much.

"I mean, how _we _ended the war." Aang corrected, earning a smile from the tribe boy. The young airbender knew very well he wouldn't have achieved anything without his friends. "So, they gave me, well…" he stopped for a second and flapped his wings. "these, as a token for their appreciation."

"Oh, well, I guess that explains it." Sokka said, "Do you… um, like them? The wings, I mean."

"Hm, yeah." Aang answered. "I think they're great for flying, and perhaps even airbending. I'm sure I can find a good use for them." he smiled.

Sokka sighed, "Always with the optimism."

"Besides, I think I look pretty cool with these." Aang stretched his feathers out proudly. "Don't you think?"

"Ehh, you look like even more of an airhead." Sokka replied. The two shared a laugh.

Sokka talked about his father's strategies and plans related to the Water Tribes. Aang saw much enthusiasm and pride in his friend's eyes. The young warrior was certainly happy to spend time with his father, helping out with the Tribes and always being by his side.

Aang shared some of the plans the council has suggested and put into action. Sokka was amazed how Aang still wanted to travel the world and help small villages, even that the war was over and smaller troops could do it for him.

'_It's one of Avatar's responsibilities, I guess.'_ Sokka thought.

He made sure to kept the conversation going, and to ignore shortcuts and make as many circles as possible along the road.

"Hey, shouldn't we head back?" Aang asked. "I'm sure the girls are up."

Sokka stopped on his tracks, "Erm," he knew he can't make Aang walk more, they'd been out for about an hour now. "Yeah. Sure." he answered nervously.

"You allright? You look a bit pale." Aang asked, concerned for his good friend.

"Yeah, I'm good, just uhh…" Sokka tried to think of something whilst looking at the ground. "I want to see Suki, that's all." he grinned, hoping that he sounded legit.

"Ah, I see." Aang chuckled and nudged him on the side. "You wanna _smoochie-smoochie_ with the Kyoshi warrior, don't cha?" he teased.

Sokka's face turned red, but the thought of kissing Suki was pleasant.

"H-Hey!" he nudged back. "I better not see you _smoochie-smoochie_ with my sister! _Oogies_!" he exclaimed.

Aang blushed and chuckled some more. Sokka couldn't help but to smile, too. He admired the young Avatar, who had stolen his sibling's heart. Even if seeing the two contact lips made him gross out, he wouldn't trust anyone else with his sister.

They turned around and started making their way back.

'_I can only hope they've finished cooking… or else, I'm going to get so much cold water bended onto my face!'_

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><p><em>Sorry, this one's rather short! I just wanted to update, and to ensure others myself that I still want to continue the story, heh.<em>

_Thank you for reading! Please leave a review, if you can! I'd love to hear some feedback._


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